Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Good Dog Play

This past weekend Barbara drove us to Concord to a big dog show. We weren't entered but Ambrose's father and some of his littermates were entered. His brother Wallace did really well and got many ribbons and even won Best of Breed. The people were meeting up to form a Gordon Setter Club in North and South Carolina so that we could all do fun Gordon Setter stuff together. I look forward to that.




I can tell you that Ambrose's litter mates are just as goofy as he is. His sister Torri is a bold little thing. Look at the way she is staring at me!




Ambrose hasn't seen his brothers and sisters since he was 8 weeks old. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. He got put in a big pen with all of them. At first he wanted to get out.




After awhile he got used to them and they all hung out together.




I did not have to go in the pen with all those goofy adolescents. They barked like complete idiots when they saw me. I stayed out with the people and even got some good people food like wieners with sauce and a big shrimp.


I know you saw my post about the dog park fiasco early last week. Well I wanted to show you a video of some good dog park play, the way it should be. Ambrose may be goofy but he does have good play skills (which I taught him) and can get along with almost any dog. Watch him and Cherie play in the video. You can see the nice play bows, the intention moves and the reciprocal style of play. When we dogs play this way everyone can have fun.




Ambrose and I still go to the dog park but we have changed the times we visit so that there aren't many dogs there. Barbara does not like us to be subjected to a crowd of dogs with their oblivious people.




You can see that Ambrose and I like to play fast chase games. As he is growing he is getting a little more coordinated.




Unfortunately he is still pretty goofy. Look at his big lips.




The dog-crate-on-wheels was seriously injured last night when some big tree limbs fell on top of it. We were not in it at the time. It was quite a surprise this morning.




The top is so crushed that it pushed the roof down into the inside of the car.




One of the doors got smashed.




It is all going to get repaired but they said it will take 10 days! I hope that my outings don't get curtailed because of it.

13 comments:

Lorenza said...

Hi, Niamh!
Sure you had a pawesome time!
I just can imagine there Ambrose and his siblings!
I hope your car is fixed soon!
Sure it was a surprise!
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

D.K. Wall said...

Our transportation is very important to The Herd, so we will warn the humans not to park under falling branches.

Dexter said...

Ambrose is a total goof ball. I don't know if he will ever outgrow it. Sigh.

Sorry about your dog house on wheels. I hope you are back in action soon.

Slobbers,
Mango

Tama-Chan, Benny, Vidock, Violette, Ollie, Heloise, Momo, Ryu said...

So much to respond to! Sorry about the crate-on-wheels! What a giant nuisance!

Love the play and chase photos. Ambrose really is all legs still, isn't he. The photo of the two of you chasing one other is just great! We think Ambrose's sister Torri looks rather fun!

Woofs,
Tommy (and the "Chans" too!)

Fenway said...

I love it how your family "dominated" that show ring! My family recently met up at an agility trial...14 relations in all and many Q's, ribbons and some new titles were collected. I was a bit shy around them at first, just like you!

Ms. Alpha read your post about the dog park and feels the same way. They are just not safe places, especially for show beauties like us. That poor Bernese who kept getting picked on! Too many owners watch The Dog Whisperer and thus the alpha roll. Sad, huh? I never get to go to dog parks because of the idiot humans...they don't know how to police and teach their dogs what is acceptable behavior. Keep Ambrose safe, okay?

Your pal,
Fenway

PS: too bad about your crate-on-wheels!!!

Gus, Louie and Callie said...

Wow that Ambrose is getting some really good lessons from you Niamh. He plays like Callie girl does. She always puts her hands on us and zooms off..
Sorry about the Settermobile. Hopefully you will find another mode of transportation while it is at the vet...

Big Sloppy Kisses
Gus, Louie and Callie

Unknown said...

Hi Niamh,

Everytime we come to visit you, my human is always nodding away at the wise things your Barbara says. That's great that you've showed everybody what good dog play is. Hsin-Yi is a bit worried that I'm not a very good player coz I play REALLY rough and whenever she tries to slow me down, I just stop playing altogether - I think she's telling me off! - so it's not like she can't control me but she wishes she could teach me to play mroe gently. But maybe that is just my play style and also coz of my size? Hsin-Yi watches me very carefull and she says I still do the play bows and other correct canine body language stuff and I actually do the same actions as other dogs but maybe coz I'm so big & heavy, it comes across looking scary? Anyway, she has to be very careful about choosing companions for me - dogs who like to wrestle and play rough and who are confident are the best playmates coz they don't freak out when I try to chase them or wrestle with them...she also says that she always relaxes when there is reciprocal chasing coz then it means that one dog isn't bullying the other but they're taking turns to reverse roles!

Hey, thanks for your comment about my pivoting - but could you tell us more what you mean by "correct footwork"? My human has never done proper competition Obedience so she doesn't know many of the exercises and rules for that...

Thanks!
Slobbers,
Honey the Great Dane

Unknown said...

ps. could you show us a video of YOUR pivoting sometime??

Molly the Airedale said...

How neat that Ambrose got to hang out with his siblings!
We love his big lip picture! hehehe
What a goofball!
What a shame about your car!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Pedro said...

Niamh,

Oh no! I can believe the tree threw it's branches on your mobile dawg crate! That stinks! That's alot of big dawgs together in that fenced in area. I don't blame Ambrose for being a little concerned. I bet he had fun after he warmed up though! You sure were the lucky one to stay out and get delicious treats! Have a great weekend :P

Samantha ~ Holly and Zac ~ said...

It looks like Ambose was having a lot of doggie fun in that video.


We are pleased you were not in the car at the time of that tree falling and hope you get it fixed soon.

Thanks for your comments on our blog, Holly likes having a ball in her mouth whilst another ball is thrown to her. Just how she likes to play, funny girl..hehe
we have edited our post a bit since your comment. :-)

Holly & Zac

Lucy-Fur, as typed by Dr. Liz said...

Oooh no! Damaged dog crate on wheels = bad thing. I hope it gets fixed soon. And goofy is good; I like the lips! ;-)

*kissey face*
-Fiona

Anonymous said...

Appreciate this post. Let me try it out.

my blog :: clean teeth, healthgrades.com,